Recent expeditionary operations in Afghanistan and Iraq uncovered a need for resupply and casualty evacuation (CASEVAC) of small units in the field under hazardous conditions and with minimal infrastructure. These conditions are common to a variety of mission sets, such as humanitarian relief operations, noncombatant evacuations, routine cargo resupply, underway replenishment, irregular warfare, and sustained conventional combat. In order to support robust rapid resupply and CASEVAC operations in dynamic threat environments, where the warfighter has the most urgent need for these services, a number of new and innovative capabilities have been developed.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 8,260,736 discloses an intelligent system manager system and method for managing and controlling a platform comprising a management component providing intelligent decision support and managing platform functions responsive to data representative of the platform and equipment thereof; an execution and monitor component for causing execution of commands controlling the platform and equipment thereof, and monitoring the execution of the commands and the status of platform sensors and platform equipment; a display component providing information representative of the current state of the platform and receiving input; and a common services component providing processing services to the management component, to the execution and monitor component, and to the display component.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,265,818 discloses a command and control system including a core unit, with a processor and a map display engine. The core unit is configured to exchange information with a multi-domain heterogeneous unmanned vehicle command and control module, a multi-sensor command and control module, and an asset-tracking module. The asset-tracking module estimates the location of an indeterminate object. A control unit exchanges information with an input device. A detecting unit detects modules that are associated with the core unit. A subscription unit logs parameters associated with the detected modules and determines types of data to send to the detected units based on the parameters. A script unit receives and implements command and control scripts for the detected modules. A display output provides display information of a combined representation of information from the detected modules and map information, including locations of the vehicles and sensors under control and the estimated location of the indeterminate object.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,948,681 discloses a modular automated air transport system comprising an unmanned autonomous vehicle having a selectively detachable control systems portion and a structural air frame portion, wherein the structural air frame portion contains an interior cargo hold, aerodynamic members having control surfaces and at least one propulsion device attached to the structural air frame portion; and wherein the control system portion includes a control computer for autonomously controlling the flight of said air transport system from one known location to a second known location.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,437,890 discloses various types and levels of operator assistance performed within a unified, configurable framework. A model of the device with a model of the environment and the current state of the device and the environment may be used to iteratively generate a sequence of optimal device control inputs that, when applied to a model of the device, generates an optimal device trajectory through a constraint-bounded corridor or region within the stated space. This optimal trajectory and the sequence of device control inputs that generates it are used to generate a threat assessment metric. An appropriate type and level of operator assistance is generated based on this threat assessment. Operator assistance modes include warnings, decision support, operator feedback, vehicle stability control, and autonomous or semi-autonomous hazard avoidance. The responses generated by each assistance mode are mutually consistent because they are generated using the same optimal trajectory.
The article entitled “The NASA/Army Autonomous Rotorcraft Project” to M. Whalley provides an overview of the NASA Ames Research Center Autonomous Rotorcraft Project (ARP). Similarly, the article entitled “What Is an Open Architecture Robot Controller?” to Ford addresses the issue of what an open architecture robot controller is.
Despite the foregoing, a need exists for a platform-agnostic solution for an aerial vehicle (e.g., a Vertical Take Off and Landing (VTOL) aerial vehicle) capable of providing an integrated processor and sensor suite with supervisory control interfaces to perform small unit rapid response resupply and CASEVAC into hazardous and unpredictable environments.